Hello!
As teased in last week’s post, we are ready to lift the veil on our next Steel Division 2 DLC, a brand-spanking-new Army General campaign! This one is almost entirely focused on a series of clashes fought - uniquely - between two former allies: Axis Hungary and (recently turned) Allied Romania.
Let’s swing the camera to the southern flank of the Eastern Front and zoom in on The Battle of Turda, in northwestern Romania, also known as Transylvania. The time is September 1944, and the Romanians have only just changed sides, from Axis to Allies. The country is suffering a chaotic confluence of attacking and retreating forces of four different armies. The western frontier lies open; former “frenemy” Hungary sees a juicy opportunity...
A State of War
War descended chaotically on Romania in August and September 1944. As we already depicted in our major expansion Steel Division 2: Black Sunday, Romania changed sides, from Axis to Allied, in a surprise move after the Red Army began their massive strategic pincer offensive from the north. Soon after, another minor Axis ally, Bulgaria, followed suit and joined the Soviet camp.
In one fell swoop, the whole southeastern flank of the Eastern Front burst open. Germany lost a large quantity of material and manpower. Many troops hurriedly tried to make their way towards Hungary and Axis-controlled territory, pursued by Soviet forces. It was a hot, confused mess, with many Romanian units being captured and marched off to POW camps, while others turned their guns on their former allies.
Further west, Hungary remained in the Axis camp, and they saw a direct opportunity to take advantage and inflict a damaging blow on their old nemesis, Romania. You see, Hungary and Romania had been very (very) reluctant allies under the thumb of Nazi Germany, having seen each other's territory change hands - specifically Transylvania - multiple times in the last few decades. Bad blood festers.
The Hungarians strike first
In the first two weeks of September, Hungarian forces rushed into Romania’s mountainous South Carpathia in order to secure the vital mountain passes leading from the rest of Romania. There was a certain amount of enthusiasm by the Hungarian troops, eager to liberate part of, what they considered, to be Hungarian Transylvania.
The offensive would not only provide a critical lifeline to friendly, retreating Axis troops, but it would also block access to Soviet forces hot on their heels, and safeguard the Hungarian lands - for the time being. Along the way, the objectives were changed, with the Hungarians ultimately settling on establishing a more easily defensive line following the course of the Maros river. The main attacking Hungarian force was the Hungarian Second Army, including the 2nd Armored Division, the nation’s most powerful and best-equipped formation.
What few Romanian territorial and independent mountain battalions were in the region sprung into action in a rushed and desperate attempt to counter the Hungarians. Other Romanian forces, including what armored units left, joined the fight. Later on, Soviet reinforcements from the Second Ukrainian Front managed to provide critical battlefield support.
Unique to this battle is that the offensive was carried out almost completely by the minor allies themselves, at least in the early stages, with the Hungarians on the attack and the outgunned Romanians throwing up a hard-fought defense.
The Army General campaign
The new Battle of Turda Army General campaign will focus on the first stages of the combat as they developed from September 5th to 15th, 1944. This includes the opening Hungarian offensive toward Turda and subsequent capture of the city. We then see the Romanian defensive efforts slow down, then stop the Hungarian attacks. Finally, we also experience the initial combined Romanian-Soviet counter-offensive on Turda.
Historically, this first Allied counter-attack was a failure, which led to a lull in the fighting after September 15th (hence why we’re stopping there). In real-life, afterward, the Romanian-Soviet forces renewed their attacks until the fighting near Turda died down later in the month, with Allied offensive efforts directed in other sectors. Ultimately, the Romanians managed to push out the Axis troops out of their country, and the fight for Hungary itself began in earnest in October 1944.
The Battle of Turda features a campaign with the combat being quite even between both sides, with the Hungarians having the edge at the start, while the Romanians build up their forces until powerful enough to counter-attack and overwhelm their opponent at the end. Both “parent” armies, Soviet and German, will reinforce their minor allies, though mostly in a supporting role.
Nemesis: Raid on Drvar
Of course, we are still busy bees with Nemesis: Raid on Drvar. We are waiting for the last recordings of our voice actors. In the meantime: the new divisions are being tested by the Strike Team. They will be allowed to stream the content of this Steel Division 2 DLC by the end of this week!
Au revoir and until next week!
That’s it for now. We will provide more details on the actual troops, formations, and reinforcements you’ll have at your disposal in the Battle of Turda Army General campaign in the near future!
Until then, keep a close watch on our Steam forums and Instagram to keep up to date with the latest Steel Division 2 talk. Looking for an online game? Visit the kick-ass Discord server or Reddit page and get involved with the lively community!
See you on the battlefield, commander!